How Can I Hate?
by ObsessiveFanNumber1
Summary: AU. All of the Battle Brawlers  and a few villains  have been raised in abbeys in medieval-Europe, one all-boys, one all-girls. The two abbeys have a tradition of marrying one person from one abbey with someone from the other.  There's just one catch...
1. Chapter 1

**Dan: Um, what is this exactly?**

**Rin: A story, Dan.**

**Dan: Ha ha. What's it about again?**

**Rin: Basically, all of you guys, and of course the girls, live in abbeys that are strictly all-boy or all-girl. When you're so many years old, the abbots do some kind of test to determine who you'll marry.**

**Runo: Uh, you realize we're still teenagers, right?**

**Rin: It's kind of loosely set in medieval Europe. Sadly, teens getting married was pretty common back then. Anyway, there's a twist to getting married.**

**Dan: I'm scared to know...tell me.**

**Rin: You can't love each other. You have to hate each other for the first three years. After that, you can finally care about each other, etc.**

**Runo: What does this have to do with us?**

**Rin: Read to find out! Oh, but first, Dan has to do the disclaimer.**

**Dan: Aw, why me? *sees serious look from Rin* Fine. Obsessive-Fan Number 1 doesn't own anything.**

**Rin: Thanks. Now here we go!**

* * *

Runo quietly sang under her breath as she laid down on her top bunk. "Just a small-town girl, livin' in a lonely world, she took the midnight train goin' anywhere."

Sitting on the top bunk across the room with her legs dangling off, Julie picked up the tune. "Just a city boy, born and raised in South Detroit," she sang. "He took the midnight train going anywhere!"

Runo blushed. She hadn't realized anyone had heard. "Julie!" she whispered. "We're supposed to be getting ready to sleep! You know what tomorrow is!"

"Yeah," Mira said. She was laying across the top bunk on the bunk bed that her and Fabia shared. "Can you believe it?"

"It's coming almost too fast," Alice said softly, leaning against the wall and hugging herself.

"But we'll be happy for you!" Fabia insisted to Runo, sitting up on her bunk.

"You'll finally get to leave," Zenet agreed, laying on her back on the top bunk next to Julie's.

"And who knows what'll happen then?" Lena added. She was standing next to the bunk bed she shared with Zenet, leaning against the bedpost.

"Whoever is lucky enough to marry you will definitely get a huge shock sometimes, that's for sure!" Paige teased. She was already under the covers on the bottom bunk below Julie, but she sat up, leaning back against the headboard instead.

Runo threw a pillow down at her. "Oh, shut up!" The sixteen-year-old bluenette stared up at the ceiling, feeling sad. This was her last night in the abbey. No more serving everyone their food. No more sitting up late, talking with all of the other girls. No more of any of that.

"You'll be alright," Alice said softly, laying down on the bunk below Runo. "When we find out who your husband is, we'll make sure he knows how to take care of you. And we'll be checking with you all the time to make sure that he does it right."

Runo smiled at her friend. "Thanks, Alice." She rolled onto her side, closed her eyes, and eventually fell into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Several miles away, several boys were making several times as much noise. "Come on, Shun!" Dan shoved the raven-haired teen. "Cut it out!"

"Sure, Dan," Shun said, grinning mockingly.

"Just think, tomorrow you're getting a _wife_," Ace teased.

"Shut up!" Dan said. The sixteen-year-old was laughing and glaring at them both at the same time. "Besides, you guys know that the actual"—he shuddered—"_wedding_ isn't for ages."

"So what?" Ace said.

"Guys," Marucho said, trying to stay stern but failing miserably.

"Cut him a break," Ren said, though his grin was as wide as everyone else's.

"But teasing him about it is so much more fun!" Rafe said, laughing.

"Leave him alone," Keith said calmly. The nineteen-year-old was the only one where he was supposed to be—almost. He was on his bed, but he was sitting up, leaning against the wall and letting his feet dangle off the edge. "I think you've given him enough grief as it is."

"Aw!" Rafe's shoulders drooped.

"Come on, Keith!" Ace protested. "You want to tease him just as much as we do!"

Keith smiled. "I never said I didn't. Unlike you apparently, I don't want to get scolded for making this much noise at midnight. Dan Kuso might not have to worry about it, but the rest of us won't escape so many chores the day after tomorrow as punishment."

"You're no fun, Keith!" Lync pouted.

"Dan the Man might be leaving tomorrow," Jake said, "but that doesn't mean we have to make tonight a huge sobbing fest!"

"Exactly!" Marucho said. "We have to keep it normal somehow."

"If Lord Keith said to keep it quiet," Gus said, "then do it." He was on the bunk below Keith's, sitting there waiting calmly for something he could do. Everyone except the two of them was standing in the center of the room.

"Oh, come on," Volt said. "Just because 'Lord' Keith said to quiet down doesn't mean that we have to."

"Perfect little vassal already," Lync muttered, shooting a glare at Gus. The two didn't get along well at all.

Gus glanced at Keith, but the blond shook his head. Now wasn't the time. With it being Dan's last night and everything...no, telling them now would be a bad idea. There had to be a better time later.

"Hey, Master Dan?" Baron said, leaning forward on the lower bunk on the bunk bed that he shared with Ace.

"Yeah?" Dan half-turned to face the younger boy.

"You're still gonna keep in touch with us...right?"

"Of course I will!" Dan said, grinning. "How could I not?"

Baron, looking relieved, nodded.

"Don't worry," Ace said, leaping onto the bunk above Baron's.

"Yeah." Marucho slipped over onto his bed, while Ren climbed the ladder to reach the bunk above it. "Dan won't forget about us."

"How could I?" Dan said, sitting on his bunk. "You guys are my friends!"

"And we all know that you won't ever abandon your friends, Dan," Shun said seriously, leaping onto the bunk over Dan's.

"So we're pretty much guaranteed that our friendship is safe," Volt said, leaning back against the wall while sitting on his bed.

"Exactly!" Lync climbed the ladder to reach the bunk above his.

"Dan the Man isn't gonna forget about us," Jake said confidently, laying down on his bunk.

"No way!" Dan said, grinning at them all. "How could I if I _wanted_ to?"

"Hey!" Laughing and jumping onto the bunk above Jake's, Rafe threw a pillow at Dan's head.

"Watch it, Dan Kuso," Keith said with a smile. "You know that the fact tomorrow is your last day won't affect anything if you start a fight against me."

"Bring it on!" Dan said.

"Not right now," Keith said, laying down. "I'm not going to do the worst chores because you were an idiot and started a fight at twelve in the morning. Tomorrow's going to be a long day, Dan Kuso. You might want to get some rest."

"Yeah," Dan admitted, throwing Rafe back his pillow, "you're probably right again. Night, guys." He laid down, falling asleep within five minutes.

* * *

The next day was bright and sunny. _Did it have to be such nice weather?_ Runo wondered. Normally on a day like this, she would finish her chores and run outside just for the sake of being out in the sunlight. Instead, she was stuck in the room that all the girls shared, forced to try on every ridiculous outfit that was there.

"You'll look good in this one!" Julie held up a insanely-poofy white dress that looked like something out of a fairy tale book. "Don't you think?" She was loving this.

"I'm _not_ wearing that," Runo said. "No way, nuh-uh, forget it."

"All right, all right! It was just an idea!" Julie put it back. The dark-skinned girl was dressed in a simple long, sleeveless dress that was a light tan color that went nicely with her skin. The design on it was a black sewing pattern that had plenty of stars and clouds.

Runo groaned. "I don't want to get married!" she complained. "At all!"

"Yeah, but, Runo, you've been here the longest of any of us," Julie said comfortingly. "You're sixteen. You've been here thirteen years."

"Alice was here longer!" The redhead had been living at the abbey since she was three, too, but since Alice was a year older than Runo, it was a year longer.

"I know," Julie said. "But you know that she's like a daughter to Father Abbott even more than anyone."

"He still has to let her go soon," Runo said grumpily. "Her fourteen-year-anniversary is coming fast, and he can't keep her an extra year again."

"So are all of ours! Well, thirteen-year. Think of it this way, Runo." Julie set the dark blue, long-sleeved dress in her hands on the bed. "You're the first! You're the one who's brave enough to do it before anyone else! And you know we've all got your back."

_By force, and that's part of what I'm worried about!_ "Thanks, Julie," Runo said, knowing that Julie was only trying to help.

"Hey, no problem! What're friends for?" Julie handed her the blue dress. "Now go try this on."

Runo groaned. "Do I have to?"

"Yup!" Julie pushed her toward the back of the room. "Hurry up! I want to see you in it!" She covered up her eyes with her hands.

With a defeated sigh, Runo changed, then came back to Julie. "Happy now?"

Julie uncovered her eyes. "Oh, wow," she breathed. "Runo, take a look at yourself!" She moved to the side, tugging Runo in front of the mirror.

Okay, Runo had to admit that it was good. The dress reached halfway past her knees, swishing against her legs when she walked. The pale, see-through sleeves were similar, going halfway past her elbows. It even fit perfectly.

"That's the one," Julie breathed, awed. "You have to wear that one."

Runo sighed, beaten. "All right," she said, though she couldn't help twirling a little. Julie was right; it was perfect. She had to wear it.

"Just think," Julie said, tying Runo's hair into two ponytails, one on either side of the bluette's head. "Whichever one you're marrying is gonna have a tough time the first three years after he sees you like this."

"Yeah," Runo said, going through the motions. She knew to just agree with Julie. There wasn't any point to arguing.

"I mean, come on! How on Earth could you hate"—Julie motioned to Runo—"this?"

"Don't know," Runo said.

The door creaked open, and Alice peeked in. "Are you two—oh, wow, Runo, you look beautiful!"

"Thanks, Alice," Runo said, embarrassed.

Alice came inside the room. The redhead was wearing a light blue top and a pale yellow, knee-length skirt. "So this is the right dress, right?" she said softly to Julie.

"Oh yeah," Julie said, looking up from digging around in one of the drawers. "Now if I can...aha! Found it!" She held up a sapphire necklace.

Runo gasped. "No, Julie. No, I can't."

"Yes you can." Julie put it around Runo's neck. "It's yours."

"That was a one-time thing, Julie." Runo shook her head. "I can't wear it now."

"Why not?" Alice said. "It looks good, Runo."

Julie stepped back and admired her work. "Perfect."

Runo reached up and lightly touched the necklace. It was a gift, the only thing she had from her parents before they'd died. She'd only ever worn it once before. "No. I don't think I even _can_ wear this. Is it even allowed?"

"Who cares if it's allowed?" Julie said. "Wear it, girl. It's beautiful."

Runo traced the diamond-shape in the center of the necklace and didn't say a word.

"Come on!" Mira called from outside the door. "Time to go meet with the Abbott!"

Runo gulped nervously and walked outside.

"Wow, Runo," Fabia said, amazed. She was wearing a simple white dress with spaghetti straps that reached a little past her knees.

"The necklace is a nice touch," Paige said, admiring it. She was dressed in a dark brown top and a black skirt that reached her ankles.

"It matches the dress," Zenet agreed. Her deep green dress swished around her ankles. "And your hair."

"You're perfect," Mira said. She was wearing a dress that went down halfway between her knees and ankles. It was such a pale yellow that it could easily be mistaken for white.

"_All_ of the boys are going to hope that you end up as their bride," Lena said. Her sleeveless, midnight-blue dress went just to her knees.

Runo blushed a little. "Thanks," she said.

"You look wonderful, Runo," a gentle voice said.

"Father Abbott!" Mira turned half a second before anyone else.

Abbott Edmund was a tall man. His hazel eyes softly shone with happiness, and he crouched down to Runo's eye level. He didn't brush the dark blond hair out of his face, but he was smiling. "Today is an important day," he said. "Are you ready to go?"

Gulping down her nerves, Runo nodded. "Any time."

The Abbott held out his hand to her. "Then let's go."

* * *

Meanwhile, at the boys' abbey, the attitude was much more lighthearted. Their outfits were a lot simpler, too. All of them wore black tuxedos, though a few like Ace skipped the tie.

Laughing, Dan shoved Shun to the ground. "Nice try!"

Grinning, Shun tripped Dan, smirking when the brunette landed on the ground by him. "What was that you were saying?"

"Don't you two think you should be a little more careful?" Keith said. "Father Abbott will be here soon, and I doubt you want him to find you covered in mud."

"Aw, don't be such a party pooper, Keith!" Dan said.

"_I'm_ trying to keep you from getting in trouble on your last day, Dan Kuso."

Dan stuck his tongue out at him. Keith just rolled his eyes and ignored him. A wicked grin crossed Dan's face, and he shot Shun a quick look. Shun nodded. Dan lunged toward Keith, trying to knock the nineteen-year-old's feet out from under him.

A second later, Dan rammed into Shun. "Ow!" the brunette moaned, glaring at Gus. "Gus! Spoilsport! What'd you throw me for?"

"Why'd you throw him at _me_?" Shun added, shoving Dan off and rubbing his head.

"That's what the two of you get for trying to knock Lord Keith to the ground," Gus said simply.

Keith smiled. "Thanks, Gus."

"Of course, sir."

"You two are no fun whatsoever," Dan muttered, getting to his feet.

"What's taking everyone so long?" Ace turned around, trying to find where everyone else could possibly be.

"Who knows?" Marucho said. Jake, Rafe, Baron, Ren, Lync, Volt...none of them were there. No one had seen them all morning.

"Gotcha!" Lync jumped on Dan from behind.

"What the—!" Dan whirled. "Lync! Get off!" He tried to shove the short fifteen-year-old off.

"Nope!" Lync said happily. "Not this time!"

"We got you, Dan!" Volt grabbed both of his arms and locked them behind his back.

"Hey! Guys! What are you—"

"Surprise, Dan the Man!" Jake said, holding up a giant bucket.

Dan's eyes widened. "Oh no. No no no no no no no!" He flailed around, kicking the air wildly.

"You knew something like this was coming!" Rafe said, grinning as he held up a sprayer.

"No! No I didn't! I deserve a warning!" Dan protested, trying to make Volt let go by wriggling around as much as he could.

"Sorry, Master Dan." Baron's smile was huge as he held up a water balloon that must've been the size of Marucho or Lync's heads.

"Keith! Shun! Help!" Dan squirmed around frantically.

"You aren't getting out of it that easily, Dan," Ren said, using a piece of rope to tie Dan to a nearby tree. Grinning, Volt stepped out of the way. Lync jumped down from Dan's shoulders with a huge smile on his face.

"No no no no no no no no no no no no!" Dan cried, struggling against the rope with all his might and no reward for his efforts. Jake dumped the bucket of ice on his head, Rafe and Lync sprayed him with water, Baron and Volt threw water balloons, and Ren pelted him with tiny pieces of ice that he'd taken from the bucket. Ace stared, Marucho gaped, and Gus's eyes widened a little, though he was smirking. Keith and Shun both half-tried and failed to hold back laughter.

"Who says that I'm no fun, Dan Kuso?" Keith said, still laughing, when they'd finished attacking Dan.

Soaking wet and spitting out water and ice, Dan glared at him. "You set this up!"

"It was Shun's idea. I just convinced everyone else to help."

"Shun!" Dan's glare turned on the raven-haired seventeen-year-old.

Laughing, Shun said, "You've threatened to do it to me, remember? I figured someone had to do it to you."

Dan stuck his tongue out at them.

"You'd better hurry up," Keith said, untying the rope. "You don't want Father Abbott to catch you like this."

"It's your fault!" Dan ran off. Several minutes later, he came back—totally dry—to find them still gloating about their victory.

"The bucket of ice was good, Jake," Rafe said, laughing. "Thanks for giving us a hand with that."

"No problem!" Jake said, high-fiving him.

"I'm back," Dan said irritably, shooting another glare at Keith and Shun.

"Good!" Lync said. "That means we get to rub it in to your face!"

"Lync," Keith said, giving the fifteen-year-old a warning look that wasn't quite as effective as it should be since he was still smiling. "I think that doing it was enough."

"Aw!" Lync's shoulders drooped.

"At least you made it back in time," Ace said to Dan.

"Yeah. Course I almost _didn't_, thanks to _them_," Dan said, glaring at everyone except for Ace, Marucho, and Gus.

"You're welcome, Master Dan!" Baron called happily. Dan stuck his tongue out at him.

"What did you do now?"

"Father Abbott!" Keith turned a split-second before everyone else.

Abbott John was usually a patient man, but the tired fire in his dark brown eyes was one that all of them were used to. He sighed, pushing some of his long reddish-brown hair out of his eyes. "What is it about you twelve that cannot be calm?"

"Maybe because we're all teenagers?" Lync suggested. He shrunk back when the Abbott's eyes turned to him. "It's just an idea."

"I didn't do anything this time," Dan said.

"Yes you did," Keith said, glancing at him out of the corner of his eye.

"No I didn't!"

"Did too!" Baron said. "Master Dan tried to make us quit!"

"And that's something," Keith agreed with the slightest hint of a smirk.

"What is it that the rest of you did?" The Abbott turned to look at them.

"It was their idea." Lync pointed at Keith and Shun.

"Lync!" Shun glared at him. Lync shrunk away, but smirked a little when he was sure that the Abbott wasn't looking at him.

"We weren't the ones who actually did it," Keith said. He and Jake were the only ones who could put up with Lync's constant, nasty habit of backstabbing. Jake because of how big his heart was, and Keith because he knew exactly how to turn it around on Lync. "Gus, Marucho, and Ace weren't in on it at all."

"Protect your precious little pet," Lync muttered. He actually shrunk back out of fear this time, when Keith shot him a look.

Keith looked back at the Abbott, knowing it was wiser to confess. "As for what happened, everyone else doused Dan with water and ice," he said with a straight face for most of it, though his lips twitched into a smile at the end.

The Abbott sighed. "When will the twelve of you stop being so immature?" he said quietly. It was a rhetorical question that he'd asked many times before. "You all know what today is. _Try_ to act mature."

All of them except for Keith and Gus exchanged a doubtful look. "We'll _try_," Dan said.

"No guarantees, Father Abbott, but we'll do our best," Rafe said.

The Abbott shook his head. "That's all I ask," he said tiredly. "Come; it's time to leave."

* * *

**Dan: Why is it abbeys, anyway?**

**Rin: Two and a half reasons. One, I've been learning a lot about medieval Europe lately, two I've been trying to reread the ****Redwall**** series a little (even though it's so confusing, I like it) and a main place in the first book (in publishing order) is an abbey, and the half reason is because the royal wedding was in an abbey.**

**Runo: What on Earth does the royal wedding have to do with this?**

**Rin: Um...well, it's in England! (I have no idea; it's just on my mind because I watched it.) Oh, and if anyone doesn't know for some reason, the song that Runo and Julie were singing is "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey.**

**Runo: Who doesn't know that?**

**Rin: Crazy people. And I'm sorry if I warped Rafe and Paige especially, because I haven't watched any episodes of Mechtanium Surge that those two are in yet.**

**Dan: Why not?**

**Rin: Because I've been so busy lately! Two more things: One, please don't kill me for this idea, because I got it in a dream and it was too fascinating NOT to do. And two, please review! Let me know if I should change a major plot/set place or whatever...any thoughts you have, I'd like to hear them! Please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Rin: Chapter 2! Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, both for actually reviewing and for reassuring me that this idea wouldn't be totally hated.**

**Runo: You were worried it would be hated?**

**Rin: Yes! It's my first time doing something that has absolutely nothing to do with the canon except for the characters, okay? Lay off, Runo.**

**Runo: *holds up hands innocently* Okay, okay. You don't need to get so defensive, you know.**

**Rin: *deep breath* Yeah, I know. Sorry.**

**Runo: *shrugs* It's okay.**

**Dan: It's Runo's turn!**

**Runo: *turning on him* *raising her hand to slap him* Daniel—!**

**Rin: It is, Ru.**

**Runo: Don't call me Ru! And Obsessive-Fan Number 1 doesn't own any of the characters.**

**Dan: Hey, what about the OC's that you mentioned in your profile?**

**Rin: They might show up now or later. Probably later. Oh, and the river is a real place. I looked it up.**

**Dan: What river?**

**Rin: You'll see. On to the story!**

* * *

The trip to the meeting spot—near the River Severn—took almost a full day. By the time they finally got there, Dan was only the one complaining the loudest. "Did we have—to walk—the whole—way?" Dan panted, leaning forward on his knees.

Baron dropped to the ground. "I think all that walking is giving me a fever," he muttered, rubbing his forehead.

"Come on, Baron." Ace grabbed his friend's arm and hauled the thirteen-year-old to his feet. "It's almost nighttime. We'll be stopping soon." Ace was one of the few who wasn't totally exhausted.

Baron groaned, but no one was sure if it was from relief that they were almost done or miserableness that it was _almost_.

"Father!" Dan called, dropping his head down. "Wait up!"

Abbott John turned back to look at them. He was several yards ahead of the ones who kept stopping. "Come on, Daniel," he said encouragingly. "Once we get there, we can stop, but only if it's before dark. That goes for everyone."

Keith, who had been close behind the Abbott this entire time, stopped and looked over his shoulder at the others. "At least Dan Kuso is going to have to speed up if he doesn't want to spend the night out here," he said with a straight face. A smile tugged at his lips after he'd said it; he could easily see Dan trying to sleep outside and end up running to the building where everyone else would be staying in the middle of the night, screaming like a small child terrified of imaginary monsters.

Panting, Dan straightened. _Yeesh, for an old guy, Abbott John can sure keep going for a _long_ time!_ he thought, sucking down some water from the small canteen he'd brought before running ahead again to try and catch up.

Behind him, Jake shouted, "Dan the Man, wait up!"

"No way! I'm not sleeping outside again!" Dan kept running, although he did glance back over his shoulder to make sure that no one was being totally ditched. Yup, Volt and Lync were catching up to where they all were. Dan hid a snicker behind his hand when he saw Lync sitting on Volt's shoulder. Why he did that, no one had a clue, but Lync made it a game, trying to stay on longer each time before Volt noticed him. Ren said something to Volt, and the redhead turned to see Lync smirking from his place on his left shoulder. Volt shoved him off, but Lync managed to land on his feet this time.

"I was starting to wonder if you were ever going to catch up, Dan Kuso," Keith said when Dan reached him, Gus, and Abbott John. The nineteen-year-old was standing on a rock, looking down on Dan.

Dan stuck his tongue out at him. "Shut up. I did, didn't I?"

"Because of the threat of sleeping outside again."

"_Sorry_ I don't want to be stuck outside all night again!"

"Keith, Dan." Abbott John looked sternly at both of them.

"Sorry, Father," Keith said automatically, spinning a pebble in his hand. No one ever knew if he meant the apologies, or if he was just so used to having to say them that it was something he said out of habit. When Dan had tried to ask one time, Keith had looked at him and said, "Shouldn't you be the one who does it out of habit?" Everyone jumped on that to tease Dan, and it hadn't been brought up since.

Finally, the others caught up. "Where's Shun?" Rafe asked, looking around for the raven-haired boy.

"He went ahead ages ago," Keith said.

Ace glanced to make sure that the Abbott and/or Baron wasn't watching, then—behind his back—he stuck up his middle finger for a second. Dan bit back a laugh, and Ace shot him a look that shouted 'tell them that I just did that, and I will kill you in your sleep'. Dan held up his hands innocently and didn't say a word.

"Not that he'll be ahead much longer," Keith added, giving Ace a stern 'I saw that' look. "We're almost there."

"Finally!" Lync jumped up.

"We'll be there soon?" Marucho said hopefully.

"If we don't keep stopping to talk," Keith said, turning and starting to keep walking. "Let's go, Gus." He smiled. "These idiots can stand around talking all they want, but personally, I don't want to arrive after dark."

"Hey!" Dan shouted, running in front of him. Keith just pushed him out of the way. Dan glared at him and ran again, with everyone else following right on their heels.

* * *

The girls were making a similar journey with Abbott Edmund. Unlike the boys, though, they didn't complain...as much. "I'm tired," Julie whined, swaying from side to side.

"It's not long now, Julie," Alice said softly, steadying the silver-haired girl.

"We only have a few more meters to go," Abbott Edmund said patiently. "If you look hard enough, you should be able to see the building where we'll stay."

Runo squinted her eyes almost shut, trying to see it. Unwilling to give up when she couldn't, she ran the last couple of meters. She slowed to a stop when she saw it. The building wasn't very impressive. It was a two-story rectangle that was painted a faded brown that matched the bark of the ash trees at the abbey. There were three windows on each of the long sides and two on the short sides. Still, even if it was simple, it had a homey kind of feel. Several meters away, another identical building was next to this one. _Probably where the boys will be staying._

"It's not much," Fabia said, catching up.

"No," Runo agreed. "But it doesn't look all that bad."

"Are you sure that this won't collapse on us in the middle of the night, Father?" Zenet said nervously, looking up specifically at the roof.

"I'm positive," Abbott Edmund said gently, smiling.

"Good," Lena said, slowing to a stop next to Paige.

"Don't worry," Mira said, walking toward the building. "I've stayed in worse, and none of those collapsed. We'll be okay."

Paige nodded. "Then come on!" she said, running after Mira. "First dibs on the best room!"

"No fair!" Julie cried, bolting forward. Suddenly, she was very steady on her own. Runo smiled and shook her head at her friend.

"Nothing will change," Alice said.

"What?" Runo turned.

Alice had a distant look in her dark brown eyes, but she was extremely focused on Runo. "You're worried that this'll change everything, but it won't," she said. "A few things will. We won't see each other as much, and we'll probably be sad without you. But in the end, everyone will still be best friends, and no matter what, we'll all care about each other forever."

"I wasn't—" Runo started.

"It's okay to be worried," Alice assured her, losing the distant look. "I just wanted to make sure that you knew that some things will be the same."

Runo smiled at her, a little relieved. "Thanks, Alice," she said, grateful for the redhead's extreme sense of empathy. Like she always did, Alice had hit the issue head-on. Runo had no clue how she could do that every time, but that empathy was why everyone was so close to Alice.

"No problem," Alice said. She took Runo's wrist and gently tugged the bluette forward. "We'd better catch up if we don't want to be stuck in the worst rooms, though."

Runo laughed. "Knowing Julie? Oh yeah." Both of them ran into the building.

* * *

"It's about time," Shun said. He was standing on a tree limb, arms folded across his chest. "I already unpacked."

"We shouldn't have waited on the slow ones," Keith said, glancing back at Gus.

"I'll remember that for next time, sir," Gus said seriously. His expression changed into a silent question.

Keith nodded. "Never wait on the slowpokes, no matter what the situation," he said, answering Gus's question and confirming it at the same time.

"Shut up, Keith!" Dan shoved him. "It's not my fault that you pushed me!"

"That was after you finally started running, Dan Kuso," Keith said, catching his balance and shooting Gus a look that clearly said 'don't worry about it'. Slowly, Gus's fists unclenched. Dan stuck his tongue out at Keith, then turned it on Shun.

The boys had finally reached the building where they would stay until a little while after the wedding. Now Lync ran inside, shouting, "I call the top floor!"

"He'll never change," Jake said, shaking his head.

"Unfortunately," Volt said, rolling his eyes. "The little pest's always going to be annoying."

"Come on," Jake said. "He isn't _that_ bad."

"You realize this is Lync we're talking about, right?" Ren said.

"He's a weasel," Rafe agreed.

"Boys," Abbott John said warningly.

"Uh-oh," Dan said, running into the building. He didn't want to get yelled at when he did absolutely nothing.

The inside was as simple as the out. Dan walked through the door and ended up at the edge of a long hallway. On either side of the hallway were eight rooms. _They really are prepared for a lot of people, huh?_ At the other end was a set of stairs. Dan ran down the hallway and up them, hoping for a little more creativity on the top floor, but it was the same. Two of the doors were open, though. The sixteen-year-old kept walking, passing them both. Inside one, he could see Lync standing in front of the window, staring out it. The other room was empty, except for several things sitting out on the bed and nightstand. Dan assumed that it was the room Shun had claimed.

Dan shrugged. _Why not?_ He walked back down the hallway and into a different room with a window. He slipped the knapsack off of his back, taking the few things he'd brought out. _You'd think that, considering that _I'm_ the one not going back, I'd bring the most stuff. But no, that _stupid_ rule that says the one getting married has to give up almost everything they own._

The brunette sighed, hitting his head with the pillow. He didn't really want to get married. It was too much responsibility as far as he cared. _Why bother if you have to worry about the first three years, anyway? Whoever made up this idea was just some crusty old idiot._ But noo, what he wanted didn't matter.

Looking out the window, Dan caught a glimpse of someone—a group of people—running toward the other building. _The girls?_ He stood and walked over to the window to try and get a better look, but the stupid building was in the way.

A grin slowly appeared on his face. The others were going to kill him if he didn't include them in the idea he was getting, so he ran outside to tell it to them.

* * *

"Isn't this great?" Julie squealed.

"Ow! Julie!" Sitting on the bed, Runo covered her ears. "That was right next to my ear."

"Sorry," the dark-skinned girl said instantly. Then she jumped off of the nightstand, landing with an "Oof!" on the bed. "But it is! There's enough rooms on the top floor for all of us to be up here!"

Runo had to smile as she slowly pulled some clothes out of her knapsack. "That is pretty cool," she admitted.

"Pretty cool?" Julie repeated. "It's awesome!"

"But what are we supposed to do in the middle of the night?" Fabia asked. "None of the rooms have bunk beds like the abbey."

"We can sneak out," Mira suggested. All of them looked at her like she was crazy. "What?" the orange-haired seventeen-year-old said, shrugging. "I've done it before. It's easy. We can just meet up outside the building or something."

"Are you crazy?" Zenet said. "Abbott Edmund will catch us in a heartbeat!"

"He'll _kill _us!" Paige said.

"No, he won't go that far," Lena said. "But he'll be mad for sure."

"We'll get in huge trouble if we get caught," Alice said uncertainly.

"So we won't get caught." Mira shrugged. "Come on. It isn't that hard, and we'll have a chance to stick together as long as possible. How can that be a bad thing?"

Runo jumped to her feet. "I want to do it," she said suddenly.

Julie looked at her. "You sure, Ru?"

"Don't call me _Ru_," Runo said irritably. "And yeah. I want to. Every night."

"Every night?" Paige repeated.

"Are you sure that's a good idea, with everything going on?" Lena said.

"It'll keep things normal until the actual...wedding," Runo said softly, looking out the window and hugging herself, trying to shake off the chill that ran down her spine at the thought of the friendship she shared with the other girls ending because of some stupid tradition. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up.

"We'll do it every night," Alice said. "It'll be our time like normal."

Hesitantly, but with a sense of growing enthusiasm, everyone nodded. "But we should wait until it's dark," Mira said.

Fabia nodded. "Less chance of getting caught."

Runo smiled gratefully at Alice. There she went again, knowing just what had to be said. The redhead smiled and nodded back. "Don't worry," Alice said firmly. "Things will be the same as long as they can be."

* * *

**Runo: Alice has always been good at that.**

**Alice: Thanks, Runo.**

**Rin: Yeah...*smiles at sweetness of friends***

**Dan (loud whispering): Girls.**

**Rin: Hey! Shut up, Dan! There's nothing wrong with being happy for how close people are!**

**Dan: *rolls eyes***

**Rin: Gosh! *throws CD player at his head* Ah! No! That has my Journey CD in it!**

**Dan: Really? Cool! *opens CD player and takes out the CD***

**Rin: Give that back! *lunges at Dan* *trying to wrestle it out of his hands* Please review, and I will try to upload chapter 3 as soon as possible! Now give me back my CD, Daniel!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Rin (a.k.a. Me): Hey guys and girls! I'm ba-ack! Wow, two updates in one day. Cool!  
**

**Dan: *sitting off in a corner miserable 'cause he had to give back the Journey CD* You suck, Rin-chan...**

**Rin: Aw, shut up, Dan-kun.**

**Runo: Can't you two just get along?**

**Rin: (You aren't one to talk, Ruru...) Anyway, so a little important piece of information before I get to the actual chapter. I have FINALLY worked out all the pairings, but I don't necessarily want to put them here...for reasons concerning my life...**

**Dan: Aw, c'mon, no one's gonna kill you. Except me and Keith.**

**Rin: Didn't I tell you to shut up? So, ignoring him, if you REALLY want to know the pairings I have in mind, then just tell me in a review or PM me, and I will tell you. But I'm kinda concerned about telling them here 'cause...yeah, I want to live...so I'm just gonna play it safe. But I will willingly tell anyone who wants to know, so go ahead and tell me if you want to know, and I'll PM you with the list.**

**Runo: So in other words, you don't know.**

**Rin: Of course I do! Really, I do. Now, somebody's gotta do the disclaimer so we can get on with the chapter.**

**Dan & Runo: Not me!**

**Rin: Hm...*checks chapter two* Well, Ruru did it last time, so Dan-kun, it's your turn.**

**Dan: Aww! Obsessive-Fan Number 1 doesn't own the characters.**

**Rin: Indeed, indeed. Believe me, I wish. Now, I will finally get onto chapter three! ENJOY!**

* * *

"This is a horrible idea, Dan Kuso," Keith said quietly. "You do realize that, right?"

"Shut up, Keith," Dan whispered. Excitement shone in his eyes. "You're coming, aren't you?" Keith rolled his eyes, deciding not to point out that Dan had dragged him there and still had a firm grip on his arm. That was what had happened to most of them. Dan had gotten the "brilliant" idea to sneak out and spy on the girls and had trotted around trying to convince the others to come with him to do it. He'd managed to convince Rafe and Lync, but no one else was there willingly. Except maybe Gus, who'd come only because Dan had dragged Keith, but he certainly hadn't come because he wanted to spy; he only wanted to make sure Dan wasn't going to attempt to hurt Keith like last time. Volt, Marucho, Jake, and Baron had dropped out at the last minute, but no one else had managed to escape.

"Where are they?" Lync said, trying to see inside the girls' building. It was almost midnight, but all of them had expected the girls to still be awake talking or something.

"Isn't it obvious?" Keith said with an exasperated sigh. "They probably snuck out. If that building is anything like ours, then there aren't any shared rooms. Why sneak into a different room when you can simply sneak out of the building altogether?"

"How do you figure that, Keith?" Lync looked over his shoulder at the older boy.

"...Experience." Keith looked away. Concerned, Gus started to reach to touch his arm **(A/N: Whoa, that made it sound kinda like there's gonna be Keith/Gus. No, there isn't. No yaoi *shudders*. That's one pairing thing I will say here)**, but Keith shook his head.

"You okay?" Dan said. Even with all their fighting, he was still friends with Keith. Almost nothing could make the nineteen-year-old upset, so when something did, it had to be something huge.

"I'm fine," Keith snapped. Dan pulled back out of surprise. Keith closed his eyes and said, "Sorry. The experience...it's just something I don't even know if I miss or not." He caught Dan's "huh?" look and shook his head. "Never mind. Don't worry about it."

"...Okay," Dan said after a moment. "C'mon, if Keith's right, then they're probably on the other side of the building." He motioned with his hand for the others to follow and ran over to the edge of the building. He skidded to a halt, almost too late. His hand shot out past the building for a second, but he yanked it back. Then he peered past the corner and yanked his arm down in a "yes!" motion. "Come on!" he whisper-shouted over his shoulder. "They're over here!"

* * *

"Did you hear something?" Fabia turned to look over her shoulder at the building.

"It's not Abbott Edmund, is it?" Zenet nervously sidestepped so she was slightly behind Lena.

Runo stared at the building. She didn't know about hearing anything, but she thought she saw someone... A few moments passed with the air around them tense before Runo turned back to the others. "I don't think so," she said. "No one's there."

"Are you sure?" Julie said, biting her nails.

"Positive." Runo nodded.

"Even if there is, we can handle it," Paige said confidently.

"Paige," Alice scolded softly. "Don't make it sound like we'd beat them up or something. You know we wouldn't."

Paige's shoulders dropped a little. "Yeah," she said in a resigned tone. Runo stifled a grin. Paige would never change.

"We could, though," Mira said realistically. "I have before."

"You've done _everything_ before, haven't you?" Julie said, turning to look at her.

Mira shrugged. "Not by myself," she said quietly.

"Who was with you?" Lena said curiously. Mira's eyes faded from exhilaration into sadness. Alice put an arm around her shoulder and gave everyone a stern "drop it" look.

* * *

"Whoa." Lync sighed as he pulled back from looking. "I bet you get the redhead, Dan," he said wistfully, glancing again. "You're lucky like that."

"I'm gonna get the best one," Dan said confidently.

"You say when you don't know any of them." Keith was sitting on a tree stump on the side of the building. He was toying with a branch, tracing something in the dirt. Gus was sitting cross-legged on the ground next to him, nodding at whatever Keith had been saying to him, occasionally speaking up and tracing something in the dirt with his finger. Neither had bothered to go over by the others, who'd all rushed over by Dan when he confirmed the girls were there.

Dan stuck his tongue out at Keith. "Would you get over here?"

"Why should I? I only came out here because you dragged me."

"C'mon! You know you want to!"

"No, what I _want_ is for you to quit nagging me." Keith didn't even look up from his detailed tracings.

"Come _on_!" Dan went over, grabbed his arm, and started trying to pull him up. Keith still didn't look up, only shoved Dan off. Dan looked pleadingly back at the others. "Shun, little help?" Shun rolled his eyes, but he darted over, ran along the side of the building to get behind Keith, and pushed the nineteen-year-old to his feet. Keith shot a glare at both of them, but finally came after he'd shoved them both off. Gus got to his feet and followed as always. Keith glanced past the building, and his eyes widened. "See?" Dan said smugly, crossing his arms in triumph and smirking. "Hot, right?"

Keith didn't reply. He was tense; his hands were clenched into fists so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. Shock, surprise, confusion, and something that looked almost like hurt were on his face. "How could..." he whispered to himself.

"Huh?" Dan uncrossed his arms, and his smirk disappeared to be replaced with confusion. "How could what?"

"Lord Keith?" Gus said, again concerned. "Is everything alright?"

Keith started and glanced back at them before relaxing. It was almost like he'd forgotten they were there. "Yes, everything's fine," he said, but he glanced back at the girls and shook his head. "She can't..." he muttered.

"Which one? Can't what?" Dan said.

"Don't worry about it, Dan Kuso. It won't mean anything to you if I tell you her name."

"Gee, what's got you so freaked?" Dan followed Keith's gaze to the orange-haired girl who was practically in the center of all of the others. "What, she some ex-girlfriend you had before you came here or something?"

Keith looked absolutely disgusted. "That's wrong no matter how you think of it, Dan Kuso. No. Besides, remember, I was only ten when I was brought to the abbey. Why would I have had a girlfriend? And especially her?"

"Well, then why are you so freaked out by seeing her?"

"I just...wasn't expecting to see her again. That's all."

"How do you know her?"

"That's none of your business."

"Come on!"

"I'm not telling you, Dan Kuso." Keith looked back at the girl. "At least not yet. Just make sure she isn't the one you marry."

"Why?" Dan took a closer look. "She's cute." Keith's hand that wasn't on the building clenched into a fist, and Dan quickly took a step back to avoid getting hit. "Okay, okay! I'll do my best to not marry your girlfriend!"

Keith groaned. "Stop calling her that!"

"I'm gonna assume it's that until you tell us!" Dan teased.

Keith rolled his eyes. "Must you be so immature?"

"Ye—" Dan started, but Keith suddenly grabbed his arm and yanked him back. "—hey! What was—"

"They didn't see you, did they?" Keith said, cutting Dan off.

"Why would they have?" Dan twisted around to look.

* * *

"Are you _sure_ there's no one there?" Fabia looked at the building again. "I could've sworn I saw someone."

"Like who?" Zenet said nervously.

"Quit being so paranoid, Zen," Paige said, lightly shoving Zenet. "It's probably nothing. Maybe an animal or something."

"It was _not_ an animal!" Fabia insisted. "I saw someone back there!"

"I'll go check," Mira offered, starting to walk toward the building.

"No, don't," Runo said, grabbing her wrist. "That'll ruin the whole purpose of meeting out here. It's supposed to be our normal time, not some kind of freak-out time. Zenet, relax, I'm sure it's nothing. Fabia, don't worry about it. If it is someone, either way, we don't have to worry about it as long as it's not Abbott Edmund, and we know it's not because he wouldn't sit there and let us get away with this. Right?"

"...Right," Fabia said. Still, she looked over her shoulder again.

"Just let it go," Runo almost-begged softly. She couldn't bear the idea of everything being ruined now that something was finally going right. "Please."

Alice hugged Runo gently. "We will. Right?" she said with a look at the others that left absolutely no option other than agreeing.

"Sorry, Ruru," Fabia said softly.

"Don't call me "Ruru", either!" Runo snapped instantly. The girls all laughed, knowing that Runo was done being upset.

* * *

"Oh," Dan said. "Well...none of them are gonna come over here. So we're good. Right?"

"...I suppose." Losing interest, but still glancing at the orange-haired girl, Keith walked back over to his tree stump, picked up his stick, and started tracing again. Gus's expression verged on suspicion as he followed.

"Ace? You okay?" Ren said.

Ace glanced back. He'd been staring intently past the building. "What? Yeah." He went back to staring.

"Which one are you staring at?" Ren moved next to Ace. Ace was silent, leaving Ren to follow his gaze. "_Oh_," Ren said, understanding why Ace kept his mouth shut. "He's going to kill you, you know."

"Shut up. I know that," Ace snapped without taking his eyes off the orange-haired girl. "Why do you think I didn't say a word?"

* * *

**Rin: *studying chapter* Well, that one was a little shorter than I'd hoped for...but it's better than nothing!**

**Runo: *shoves Rin* Tell them!**

**Rin: Oh yeah! Well, Ruru and Dan-kun here figured out another way to probably figure out what pairings are gonna be in.**

**Dan: It's SIMPLE, Rin-chan.**

**Rin: This would make the third time today I'm telling you to shut up, Dan-kun. Now, if anybody really wants to know, but doesn't want to PM me or ask in a review—wait, what would you have against doing that? Okay, well, do that, and I'll tell you Dan-kun's and Ruru's solution next chapter.**

**Runo (loud whisper): Cheapout.**

**Rin: Shut up, Ruru!**

**Runo: Don't call me Ruru!**

**Rin: *sigh* Well, at least this time, nobody can take my CD *glare at Dan*...**

**Dan: *mischievous grin* *run off***

**Rin: Uh...where's he going?**

**Runo: No idea.**

**Dan: *comes back* *triumphant smirk* *waving CD player***

**Rin: HEY! GIVE THAT BACK! MY LINKIN PARK CD IS IN THERE! I CAN'T WRITE WITHOUT MY LP! OR ANY OF MY MUSIC! *bolt at Dan***

**Dan: Uh-oh! *run away***

**Rin: GET YOUR BUTT BACK HERE, DANIEL KUSO!**

**Runo: So apparently, since she's busy, I'll say this for her. Please review, and Rin-chan over there will try and upload the next chapter ASAP. See ya later!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Rin: Geez, it just takes me forever to update, huh? *shrugs* Oh well. *smirks uncontrollably***

**Dan: Uh...what are you smirking for?**

**Rin: I'm plotting my revenge! I'm getting it this chapter, you know.**

**Dan & Runo: **_**Revenge?**_

**Rin: *dismissive wave* Not on you.**

**Dan & Runo: *exchange doubtful look***

**Rin (exasperated): Really! *sighs* Ok, let me explain. Ages and ages ago, I got an anonymous review for this story. The person was ranting about me being a "loser" who "can't come up with original ideas" and how this "sounded like another story" and junk like that. And they used "u suck" as a username. *rolls eyes* So, *clap hands together* since they clearly hate the story so much, this chapter is specially dedicated to annoying them! (Like they're reading it, but it makes me feel so smug to do so.) *smirks***

**Runo: Why dedicate it to annoying them if they hate it?**

**Rin: That's the point! Revenge! Other people have commented on how the idea is original, so I'm forcing 'u suck' to do so as well! *smirks***

**Dan: She's evil...**

**Keith: You get used to it.**

**RIn: Huh? When'd you get here, Keith? *shrugs* Well, whatever. Somebody do the disclaimer.**

**Dan & Runo: Not me!  
**  
**Rin: Keith?**

**Keith: (I have a choice?) Obsessive-Fan Number 1 doesn't own the characters.**

**Rin: Precisely. Now onto the chapter!**

* * *

"I still think there was someone there," Fabia insisted. "Not the Abbott, but someone was definitely watching us."

"Will you stop that, Fabia?" Runo groaned. It was morning now, and the girls were supposed to be 'preparing to meet the boys'. Since they'd gotten most of that done at the abbey, they were hanging out by the side of the building. Unfortunately, Fabia wouldn't stop insisting that she'd seen someone spying on them last night. "Give it a rest. If we were going to get in trouble, we would've by now," Runo said, massaging her forehead. Today had enough strain as it was. The last thing she needed was invisible stalkers added to the stress list Fabia's face set into determination, and she opened her mouth to argue, but Alice shook her head. Fabia nodded, and Runo wondered yet again when Alice had become the group's leader. _Like it'll matter after this, _she thought bitterly.

"Are you all ready?" Abbott Edmund said, walking up to them. He was dressed up, too; none of them had ever seen the dark tan suit he wore. Runo was a little surprised until she remembered he had never met the boys before, either. _Probably hoping for impression points._ All of the girls nodded. Abbott Edmund smiled gently and said, "Then let's go."

* * *

"Will you come out, Keith?" Dan said furiously, kicking the door. Ever since seeing that girl, Keith had shut himself in his room and refused to come out for anyone, even Gus.

"I already told you no," came Keith's stubborn reply.

"We're supposed to be meeting them in four minutes!"

"_No_. I already saw them last night."

"Father John doesn't know that!" Dan hissed.

"You're good at excuses, Dan Kuso. Come up with one."

Dan threw his hands up in despair. "I give up. Just make sure he knows I tried when he comes up here to force your door open and drag you out."

"Fair enough. Now leave me alone," Keith said. Dan glared at the door and went back downstairs to meet up with the others.

"Why wear the formal stuff yesterday if we're just gonna be stuck in it again today?" Lync complained, picking at the ground.

"It's 'tradition'," Volt said disgustedly. Of all of them, he was the least fond of traditions and such, which was saying something. "For 'generations' and whatever." Lync stuck out his tongue.

"Keith's not coming," Dan announced, flopping onto a chair. "He's absolutely refusing. He won't leave his room. Heck, he won't even open the door!"

Abbott John's expression clouded over. "I wonder... Perhaps it's better he stays here, at least for now..." he muttered to himself.

"Why would it be?" Ren said curiously.

The Abbott started, like he'd forgotten they were there. "No reason concerning the rest of you," he said and dropped the matter to continue cooking breakfast. No one brought it back up when breakfast was served.

"Thanks, Father John!" Baron said, happily digging in.

"You're welcome," the Abbott said with a smile. "Gus, will you bring some up to Keith? I'm sure you're the only one he'll listen to right now, if he won't even open the door." Gus, whose suspicion hadn't faded though he was almost as stubborn as Keith in not telling them what he was suspicious about, nodded and did so, bringing up his own food as well.

"Hey, Father?" Dan said between mouthfuls of egg. "How long is it before the actual...wedding?"

"It all depends, Dan. Only partly on tomorrow's challenge."

_Oh yeah. _That_. Just what I wanted to remember,_ Dan thought sarcastically. It was how they determined who married who, or in this case, who the heck Dan married. Something about the different-colored marbles you went for showing different traits, and they decided from that. Dan had never really paid attention, but he guessed he would have to when they explained again tomorrow morning. But thankfully he could deal with that later. He just nodded and kept eating.

Shun grinned slightly at Dan and pointed under the table at the other building. Dan followed where he was pointing and grinned. _Perfect._ The girls were lining up next to their building.

"Dear g*d, already?" Abbot John said anxiously. Snickering broke out as he started cleaning up. All of them thought it was hilarious on the rare occasion the Abbott swore. "Someone go get Gus—oh, never mind, he's not going to come without Keith anyways. Go on!" the Abbott said, hurrying them out the door.

* * *

Runo fidgeted nervously. As 'per tradition', she was at the head of the line. Next to her was Fabia, who was pretending she wasn't crossing her fingers behind her back. Then Zenet, who was gripping Lena's wrist. After Lena was Alice, who was easily the calmest there. Julie was next to her, whispering nervously and smoothing her dress every two seconds. Then was Mira, watching the door with attempted emotionlessness, but worry filling her eyes. Finally was Paige, who kept shooting glares at Julie. Runo glanced nervously at Alice, and the redhead smiled reassuringly at her. Breathing for what felt like the first time all morning, Runo managed a nod.

All of a sudden, Julie whisper-squealed, "There they are!" Alice rolled her eyes at Julie, but Runo's panic instantly returned.

She was right, though. The boys came out from behind the other building. First was a brown-haired boy with red eyes that held a cockiness that matched his grin. Pushing him froward was a boy with teal hair and matching eyes. He was snickering over his shoulder with the raven-haired, amber-eyed boy who was behind him, smirking. After him was a boy with blue hair and purple eyes. Then came a dark-skinned, golden-eyed boy who was ruffling the blond hair of the short boy with red glasses who was next to him. Then was a tall, muscular redhead who shoved a shorter, pink-haired, blue-eyed boy off his shoulders. The pink-haired boy managed to land on his feet and smirked up at the redhead, who rolled his eyes. Runo could see a purple-haired boy with bright blue eyes watching from an open window on the top floor of the building, clearly determined to make the best of obviously being told he couldn't come outside. The brown-haired boy in front stuck his tongue out at the teal-haired boy, but he turned to face the girls with a confident smile.

Fabia gasped. She grabbed Runo's wrist and whispered, "That's him!"

"Who? What are you talking about, Fabia?" Runo said quietly, confused.

"I _knew_ I saw someone! He's the one I saw! It was the one in front! _He _was spying on us last night! And I'll be the rest of them were, too!" Fabia whispered, her voice half-furious, half-triumphant. She turned to whisper the news to Zenet. Runo stared at the boys, thinking, _You've got to be kidding me._ She almost would've preferred it if it _had_ been Abbott Edmund; at least he knew they normally stayed up talking. But their normal time together being intruded on by these boys who were total strangers...Runo's blood started boiling.

"What are we supposed to do now?" the brown-haired boy said, looking around and sliding his hands into his pockets. "Hey, where'd Abbott John go?" Runo glanced around, but their Abbott had disappeared, too.

"Finally," the pink-haired boy said. "No more nagging."

"Got something right for once," the teal-haired boy muttered. "Still, Dan's got a point. What now?"

"Introductions?" Mira suggested, turning all eyes to her. She didn't seem to mind that they were all staring at her, considering how calmly she said, "I'm Mira."

"Nice to meet you," the redhead said. "My name's Volt." He looked down at the pink-haired boy. "And the annoying little trickster here is Lync."

Lync glared at him. "I can introduce myself!" Volt shrugged, smirking just a little.

"I'm Ren," the dark-skinned boy said with a smile.

Zenet smiled uneasily back. "Zenet."

"And I'm Lena," Lena added with a grin at Zenet.

"My name's Paige." The gold-eyed girl finally uncrossed her arms.

"I'm Rafe." The blue-haired boy extended a hand. It might've been Runo's imagination, but Paige didn't seem so reluctant to shake Rafe's hand.

"Julie's my name!" Julie winked. For how excited she was now, Runo was sure none of the boys would guess how nervous she'd been a minute ago.

"Marucho." The blond boy pushed his glasses up his nose.

"My name's Alice." Alice tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"And mine's Fabia." The blue-haired girl's anger had faded, and she smiled at the boys, specifically at the raven-haired one.

Returning her smile slightly, the raven-haired boy said, "My name is Shun."

"I'm Ace," the teal-haired boy said with a two-fingered wave. Runo thought she saw him watching Mira closely.

"Runo." The bluette was finally sure that she could open her mouth without screaming.

With a cocky grin, the brown-haired boy said, "And my name's Dan. Dan Kuso." He glanced at the building. "Apparently the others aren't coming."

"Abbott John told Baron no, remember?" Ace said, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Dan said with a dismissive wave.

"Baron's the one up there," Ace explained quietly, pointing up. The purple-haired boy waved excitedly, leaning forward.

"So were all of you spying on us last night, or did some of you have the sense to stay behind then?" Runo said quietly, rage making her voice tense.

Color drained from Dan's face. "What do you mean...spying on you?"

"You know exactly what I mean, Daniel," Runo said, her voice dangerously soft. "_Spying. On. Us._ Fabia saw you. We all know you were, so why bother trying to say you weren't?"

"I can explain!" Dan said quickly. "Really!"

"There isn't any explanation!" Runo's voice started to rise with each word. "No explanation other than whoever's idea it was being a pompous, self-centered _idiot_! And considering _who_ has been protesting since I brought it up, I think we all know who that selfish full-of-himself airbag is! Don't we, _Daniel_?"

"Runo, it's ok! Calm down!" Alice grabbed her hand, pulling her back. "It's alright," she whispered soothingly, gripping Runo's hand tightly. "They were being idiots. It's not worth getting so upset over." Runo didn't even realize she was shaking until Alice held her arm still, gentle and firm at the same time. "It's alright," she kept whispering in the bluette's ear. Slowly, Runo started to relax, but none of the anger faded. She just forced it to the back of her mind.

"...You ok?" Dan said. Concern shone in his eyes. Runo shot him a fierce glare, but Dan didn't react to it at all. "...Sorry." The apology surprised Runo. He sounded genuine about it. _...But that doesn't mean I'm going to forgive him!_ she thought furiously.

"...You know, this still doesn't answer what we do the rest of the time," Lync said after a moment of silence. "Hopefully Abbott John isn't coming back anytime soon."

"You got any ideas?" Volt said, looking at him.

Lync shrugged. Runo swore she caught him glance at Alice. "Maybe get to know each other?" he said casually.

"What does it matter?" Dan said, suddenly sounding exhausted. "The dumb test is tomorrow."

"That doesn't mean it's a bad idea!" Lync said defensively. Now Runo definitely saw him glance at Alice.

"He has a point," Zenet said quietly. All of them glanced at her, and she blushed. "I mean, getting to know each other might be a good idea," she muttered shyly. Lena smiled and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. Both of their eyes were on Ren. Runo hoped for her friends' sakes that she wouldn't end up with him, even though he seemed like one of the nicer ones. She hoped he hadn't been one of the ones spying.

"Doesn't sound like too bad of an idea to me," Ace said, trying not to watch Mira. He shut his eyes in effort to stop himself. He didn't want to freak her out by staring at her. "For once, Lync's right." A faint smile—_real_ smile—flickered across Lync's face for a moment. Most of the boys shot split-second curious looks at Dan, who the girls had already easily figured out was the group's 'leader'.

Dan shrugged carelessly. "Sure, why not? If they're up to it." Getting an hour and a half of sleep after a full day of traveling was catching up to him. Watching the girls, specifically Runo so he would be able to get away if she started screaming at him again, a line from a song he'd heard popped into his head. "_There's a fine line between love and hate." Guess I'm gonna be finding out how true _that _one is pretty soon, huh?_ His eyes found Mira, and he wondered again how Keith knew her. "Hey, Mira," he said without really thinking about it, "do you know anybody named Keith?"

Mira tensed. Emotions flashed through her eyes, too fast for Dan to tell what emotions they were. "No," she said. "Why?"

_Then how does Keith know her?_ "No reason. Just wondering. Keith is one of our friends, but he wouldn't come out here, so I was wondering if any of you knew him so we could have a reason to drag him out." Dan looked at the other girls. It was a long shot, but... "Any of you know him?"

They shook their heads. "Never heard of him," Julie said.

_Darn._ "'Kay," Dan said with an offhanded shrug.

* * *

"What did I tell you?" Keith leaned against the wall, not watching out the window anymore. He reached over with one hand and shut the window so none of the ones outside would hear him. "She doesn't remember. I didn't expect her to in the first place. She was only seven the last time we saw each other."

"Then why are you so upset about it, sir, if you were expecting it?" Gus didn't sound like he believed him at all.

Keith sighed. "Because I was still hoping for her to," he said softly. "It's probably better she doesn't. After all, it would probably hurt her more than the others." He picked up the black, hawk-like mask he'd been carrying with him since he'd decided on what he was going to do. "I won't remind her if she doesn't remember me. I don't want to hurt her more. She's still my little sister."

Gus wondered if Keith really wasn't going to tell her. He knew Keith was trying not to hurt her, but he also knew how deep that knife had struck when Mira said she didn't know Keith. Maybe it would hurt them more in the end, but Gus still thought that it would be better for Keith to remind Mira, if she even had really forgotten. Long run or not, he knew it would be more comfort for Keith if Mira knew her older brother while he was there. "...All right, sir," he said, silently vowing that he would tell Mira about Keith whether Keith wanted him to or not.

* * *

"We'll tell them tomorrow then?" John said.

Edmund nodded with a slight smile. "It will give them as little time as possible to worry or complain about it." The two were at the edge of the nearby forest, close enough to watch the groups that had split off to talk, but far enough away not to be seen. "They won't be happy, but it has to be done." John nodded, and the two left, still avoiding sight, neither succeeding in not half-smiling, half-grimacing at how the news would go over tomorrow. Both knew it would not be easily accepted that there wasn't only going to be two people involved in tomorrow's scavenger hunt.

* * *

**Rin: Mwahaha! I love being an evil genius! *laughs like an evil genius***

**Keith: Evil, yes. Genius is taking it a little far.**

**Rin: *stares* Ouch.**

**Dan: You forgot, Rin!**

**Rin: Forgot what now? You know how forgetful I am.**

**Dan: Runo's and my solution!**

**Rin: What? *pales* No! I don't wanna tell it! Everybody's been so nice about asking me in reviews, and they're all so nice when they PM me back after I tell them! I don't wanna be so blunt!**

**Keith: *rolls eyes* I'LL tell them, then.**

**Rin: No! *covers Keith's mouth***

**Runo: *taps foot impatiently* Just somebody tell them already!**

**Keith: *shoves Rin's hand off* *looks at readers while holding Rin's wrists to keep her from covering his mouth again* Just look at her profile. She says what pairings she supports there.**

**Rin: KE-KUN! *despairs over how blunt he was* *apologetic* I'm sorry, he's so mean about it. I do say what pairings I support on my profile, but please please PLEASE don't get upset over how stupid he was being! Ke-kun's just being a jerk.**

**Keith: STOP CALLING ME THAT!**

**Dan (snickering): Ke-kun?**

**Keith: DON'T YOU DARE, DAN KUSO!**

**Dan: All right, all right...*snickers* *toys with thin, circular object***

**Rin: Hehe...*sees death look from Keith* uh, oops? *shoulders sag* Dang. I'm dead. Um, so anyways, please review! I'll try to update soon (again, but hopefully I'll be more successful this time). *coughs* Assuming I'm still alive after everyone's through with me, that is...**


End file.
